RUNAWAYS #26, out this Wednesday from Marvel Comics, brings with it a lot of changes to our ragtag group of young heroes. The kid gloves are off in the latest issue, but the real question is: do the Runaways know that yet?
***SPOILER WARNING***
That last few issues of the Runaways have brought with them a lot of changes. And this issue appears to be no exception. The Runaways, for good or bad, have decided to trust the mysterious Doc Justice. And we all know the Runaways track record when it comes to trusting adults.
Rainbow Rowell clearly has a long-term plan for the Runaways, and specifically what they might potentially be facing when it comes to the legacy of the Pride. As it turns out, just because you kill the leaders of an organization (however unintentionally that may have been), it doesn’t automatically mean their plans will magically go away.
But of course, nothing is ever as clean-cut or straightforward as it seems. Doc Justice looks like the perfect solution to the Runaways problem. And that’s not sitting easy with us. In fact, it seems more than a little bit suspicious.
That Rowell was able to introduce a character who overall seems to be so helpful and kind, and have him come off as anything but shows her skill in writing. Though admittedly, his pained looking smiles go a long way in leaving us concerned as well.
And this is all while juggling several other subplots in the series. Recall that almost every character has their own hopes and goals, though some of them are being more vocal about that fact than others.
There is one subplot the rest of the characters seem to have forgotten about, but that Rowell won’t let us readers ignore. Gibb. He’s been slowly starving this whole time, thanks to his need for sacrifices as food.
Well, it seems a solution has been found. And the answer is not a pretty one. The Runaways has never been a series to pull its punches, so that shouldn’t be overly surprising. What is surprising (spoiler warning) is seeing apparently killing a dog for the sake of Gibb. Typically here’s where we’d say that this isn’t a moment you should let your kids see, but this is the Runaways we’re talking about.
To be fair, this whole subplot actually started out kind of cute. And maybe just a touch gross. There’s something cute about the idea of Molly’s cat trying to help Gibb out. Old Lace just took it to a whole new (and disturbing) level. And we’ve got to wonder; how will the rest of the Runaways deal with this development? Assuming they even notice.
Runaways #11 has a lot of artwork worth noting upon. We already mentioned one subtly hidden within the artwork (Doc Justice’s expressions). But there’s more going on behind the scenes as well. Everyone else looks normal, so this seems like an intentional choice for Doc’s character in particular.
Andrews Genolet was the lead artist for this issue, and he’s the one who made the expressions we already talked about. Meanwhile, Dee Cunniffe provided some absolutely brilliant (literally) colors to the mix. And finally, VC’s Joe Caramagna’s lettering was on point.
Runaways #11 is setting up for several big events, from the looks of things. And we’re stuck here wondering how the Runaways will handle all of this hitting them at once because it’s not looking good.
